Dear Friends

Stop being busy being busy.

Please stop. Stop being distracted, spinning the hamster wheel of social media. Stop approaching life with a shotgun approach, spreading your attention all over.

Stop thinking that every door should be explored. Stop worrying about missing out.

Stop the incessant pressure to be rich and famous or even worse, liked. Stop following or be connected to people that don’t push you to become a better human.

Stop chasing a promotion or a potential client. Stop to speak when you should listen. Stop pretending to be.

Stop saying things to fill silence. Stop trying to be important. Stop believing what others say. Stop being serious and taking life too seriously. Stop explaining yourself.

Stop to think and start to feel the grass and the wind.

Stop and listen to your surroundings – they are full of valuable information that you may overlook in your daily rush. Stop and listen to yourself – to what you really are and want out of this phenomenal gift called life.

Stop daydreaming and start creating the environment that will allow you to be that person. Stop for a moment, for an hour, for a day and allow yourself to just be. Take your time to life, to friends, to family and to the world. Give yourself the oxygen of time to allow you to breathe again.

Stopping often brings about great insights, perspectives and allows for things to fall into place. Stopping isn’t doing nothing. Stopping means making a conscious decision to pause life’s great TV show.

Stopping isn’t a passive action: it takes a great deal of strength and courage. Stopping isn’t checking your phone or social media. Stopping is an approach to life that says you are not just an empty vessel that sways to each new stimulation but that you consciously only allow selected few interruptions on your journey to a better you on the often rough oceans of daily life.

Stopping means consciously surrounding yourself with people that allow you to be yourself and understand the true meaning of living a full life.

I’m stopping. Are you?

Originally published on https://www.acumenmagazine.co.za/articles/solving-the-sme-disconnect-8253.html